Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth loss in 7 Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we barely created any chances.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance unravelled as Slot introduced multiple attacking changes when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool last lost two successive home league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour maybe the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”